A member of Great Britain that is thought to have been founded with the arrival of Gaelic colonizers from Ireland, Scotland is a place that has been the center of great events throughout history and is therefore not without great stories in its mythology.
Mythical Beings of Scottish Mythology
Scottish folklore has a wide repertoire of mythical characters that inhabit different areas of the territory, some good and some not so good, including:
1) Brownies
In Scottish mythology, they are known as small elves that measure no more than 30 or 60 cm, have dark skin covered with hair, and are usually accompanied by a green cap.
They are generally creatures that hide from human sight, living in streams and mountains in Scotland, and are therefore known for being not evil but cheerful and volatile.
Brownies also break into human homes at night to get food in exchange for cleaning the house, which is why they are called domestic elves.
Consequently, it is believed that humans had a good relationship with them, but as they were unpredictable beings, humans had to be careful how they treated them, because if they felt offended, they would disappear and could even undo all the tasks they had already done.
In mythology, it is said that the only way to thank or pay them is to leave them a plate of cream, a freshly baked roll, or a cake covered in honey.
As a result, in Scottish tradition, brownies are so well known that homes have a place set aside for food intended for them, called the “brownie stone.”
2) Caoineag
A female demon from Scottish folklore who is recognized as a deadly character that lives in water, waterfalls, and streams.
The story goes that this mythical creature can be heard at night by humans because when the sun goes down and darkness is at its peak, it cries but does not allow itself to be seen. According to some versions, whoever is unfortunate enough to hear it will suffer great misfortune or even death.
3) Selkies
They are shape-shifters, traditionally appearing as seals that live in the sea. Their ability is to shed their animal skin and transform into extremely beautiful men and women.
They do this because they seek brief adventures on land that always end in short-lived romances with humans, as these mythological beings are forced to put their seal skin back on or they cannot return to the sea.
It is also believed that male Selkies have the ability to summon storms and tend to be aggressive if they try to kill marine animals.
How do you control a Selkie?
If a human wants to control a Selkie, they must remove their seal skin and hide it from them in order to dominate them. In fact, it is believed that this is how humans manage to marry these beautiful beings.
However, this can backfire, and it is the humans who are dominated, using deception or spells to lure them to the sea, never to return.
Legend
Those who control Selkies can make them marry them, but this is only in the case of women, and according to legend, they make good wives, although they will always regret not having returned home, so the first one to get her seal skin back will escape and never return.
On the other hand, the men are known for comforting women who are unhappy in their marriages, as they only need to approach the sea and shed seven tears.
4) Cat Sìth
The Cat Sìth is a cat characterized by its black color and a white spot on its chest.
Its mythological story revolves around the fact that they liked to attend funerals to steal the souls of the dead. Their technique is to jump over the body of the deceased before they are buried.
It was believed that this cat was actually a witch who could transform herself eight times, and if she did so nine times, she would remain trapped in cat form.
However, to prevent this creature from achieving its goal at funerals or wakes, music was played and games were played to scare it away.
5) Cù Sìth
The so-called messenger of death is a being that lives in caves in the mountains but sometimes comes out in the Highlands and, according to people, is responsible for taking a person’s soul to the afterlife.
Its presence disturbs all those who believe in this creature, as its howl announces that it has gone out in search of a soul. In fact, one of the most common stories is that when the dog howls, you must hide because its third bark can kill you with fright.
Although this is one version, another is that it seeks to kidnap women who are breastfeeding to take them to nurse the children of fairies, which is why its bark alerts men to protect them.
However, the truth behind this creature is that it is the Scottish version of the Grim Reaper.
What does it look like?
Based on folklore, it is the size of a young bull but with the physical features of a wolf-dog.
Its fur is woolly and its eyes are dark green, although they vary to white. Its tail is long and curled like a braid, and its legs are very wide and large.
6) Kelpie
The Scottish lakes are home to kelpies, which are water horses believed to be spiritual beings of the water and usually appear around Scottish lakes.
These creatures like to appear to humans as horses, although they can also turn into humans or seahorses.
They are also known as extremely dangerous mythical creatures, as they like to capture their victims by turning into attractive men or horses, with the aim of taking them to the sea to drown them in the depths of their domain.
These characters are known to have a distinctly vengeful nature, and although they are thought to be only men, it is said that when they transform into humans, they are women who are wet with water and have disheveled hair. This is done to gain the trust of travelers so that they will approach them and they can throw them into the lake.
Likewise, when they take the form of horses, they are black or white, and when they manage to get a rider, they take them to the water where they throw them into the deepest part, which in most cases leads to their death.
According to legend, the only way to avoid death is to replace the kelpie’s bridle with another one, which will allow the human to control this mythological creature. It should be noted that there are two types of kelpies:
1.-They are freshwater kelpies and are satisfied when their victim gets wet in the water.
2. These are more vengeful and like to drag their victims to the depths of the lake, even eating them.
In addition, it is believed that one way to recognize them is that when they are in human form, seaweed can be seen tangled in their hair.
However, there is no reliable way to recognize this mythological creature, so the Highlanders distrusted any human or horse near the water.
7) Ghillie Dhu
A guardian of trees in Scottish folklore, this is a small creature whose clothing is made of leaves and moss.
He is a very shy creature but likes to interact with children, with whom he is kind. According to tradition, he lives in the birch forests near Gairloch, in the northwestern Highlands.
8) Nessie
A well-known story in Scotland is that of the Loch Ness monster, a supernatural being that first appeared in 565 when Saint Columba said he encountered a strange creature in the lake.
Although there is currently no evidence that it really is or was in Loch Ness, it is a well-known myth that is still talked about today. People continue to discuss the legend and even claim to have seen it, so the locals are still trying to capture an image of it.
9) Nukelavee
In the Orkney Islands, stories tell of a sea centaur that is a mythical evil creature that comes out of the sea to kill livestock, destroy crops, and cause droughts.
However, if a human encounters this mythological creature, the only way to escape its clutches is to run towards a source of fresh water, as this is its greatest fear.
What does it look like?
It has the typical appearance of a centaur, but with fins on its legs and only one large eye, which is a characteristic feature that burns with a red flame in the center.
The most frightening thing about it is that it has no skin, and those who see it can only see the black blood flowing through its yellow veins, as well as its exposed muscles and joints.
10) Wulver
The Wulver is a deity respected by humans, as it was a half-man, half-wolf creature with a human body covered in animal hair and a wolf’s head. It is unable to transform completely into a human and is known for being peaceful unless provoked.
The story of this mythical being originates in the Shetland Islands, where it is described as an entity that likes to fish and sometimes leaves its catch at the windows of the poorest families, which is why it is called the benevolent werewolf.
11) Goddess of Winter Cailleach Béirre
A deity worshipped mainly in Scotland and Celtic mythology.
She is presented as the queen of winter, as she is responsible for the hills and mountainous landscapes of the area.
Legends associated with Cilleach
- Initially, it was believed that she was capable of predicting the weather and that she helped protect the Druids or turn into a crane to cover great distances.
- There are two versions of whether or not she was a protector of wild animals, attacking with her golden arrows those who shot wolves, deer, and wild boars. However, another version claims the opposite and suggests that she actually helped hunters catch them.
- She is thought to have been a goddess thirsty for love, as she sought out warriors and heroes in the forests to love her, and when a man accepted her, she would turn into a beautiful woman. In fact, this story suggests that she had many children, among whom it is believed that they created entire races and peoples.
What does she look like?
The goddess of winter is depicted as an elderly woman with blue skin, a single eye on her forehead, and bear teeth with boar tusks.
She is dressed in gray and wears an apron and a plaid cape draped over her shoulders.
Fun fact
There is a curious story in which Cilleach, a deity associated with winter, is also believed to be Brigit, the goddess of fire.
According to an ancient legend, on January 31, she traveled to Avalon where she ate the fruits of a tree of eternal youth, turning her into a young woman. It is believed that she then took on the form of Brigit, participating in the Celtic ritual of Imbolc, which marks the beginning of spring.
12) Baobhan sith
Within the anthology surrounding Scottish mythology, we find the Baobhan sith, who are known as vampire fairies that inhabit the Scottish forests.
They possess a unique beauty which they use to seduce hunters who are alone in the countryside.
It should be noted that these mythical beings are also half-vampire, so they had parts of their bodies that were frightening at first glance. They usually dressed in white or green.
Legends
They liked to attract the attention of men wandering through the cold forests. When they found them, they invited them to dance with them and then, when they were close enough, they bit them to extract their blood.
However, according to the locals, sometimes their goal was not to drink their blood, but to steal their vital energy or sexual power. As a result of these vampire fairies, the following legends exist:
- If a woman dies while giving birth and it happens to be a waning moon, she will come back to life as one of these mythical beings.
- These characters could not be exposed to sunlight, so they hunted their victims only at night.
- It is believed that they had the power to turn into animals, but their favorite form was that of a wolf, and they could communicate with their victims telepathically and in any language.
- The most traditional legend about the baobham sith is that a group of four friends were hunting in the forest when they got lost. When night fell, they decided to take refuge in an abandoned hut, where these vampire fairies attacked them. One of the men managed to escape and, when he came out into the sunlight, he went back to look for his friends and found them dead, having been dead for several hours.
Because of this, it is believed that they seduced men by hiding their hands in their clothes, as they had claws with which to attack, and it is believed that they need to go out in search of food once a year.
This story was used as a warning to young people, advising them not to stray from the paths, talk to strangers, or get off their horses. It also served to tell them to be faithful to their wives.
What were they afraid of?
According to various versions, these mythical creatures feared horses, and the only way to hurt them was with iron weapons, so horseshoes were a lethal weapon for them.
13) Kilmoulis
A grotesque version of brownies, these creatures are part of Scottish folklore and are beings that haunt mills because they work grinding grain.
They have no mouth, only a prominent nose through which they eat. They are mischievous and playful, which can sometimes end badly, but they make up for it through their work.
14) Ceasg
A mermaid that differs from the rest of those found in mythical tales, as she had the tail of a young salmon known in Scotland as GRILSE, which had small blue-green scales with silver highlights.
She had the ability to live in both fresh and salt water, so the locals thought they could find her in the seas or rivers.
On the other hand, it is believed that a Ceasg could be with a human as a partner and even have children, but when the marriage ended, she would return to the sea, always watching over the well-being of her children and protecting them from storms or, if they were fishermen, taking them to places where they could catch large quantities of fish.
For this reason, it was always believed that the ancient ship pilots were the children or descendants of a ceasg and a human in Scotland.
Legends
- Also considered the “maiden of the wave” or “maiden of the sea,” it is said that if a human managed to catch her, she would give him two choices: to die, or to grant him three wishes, from which new myths and legends arise.
- It is also believed that they were not beautiful and peaceful young women, but evil creatures. In fact, an ancient story tells of a beautiful mermaid who ate a man and kept him alive as a hostage inside her. His wife, desperate to free him, charmed the mermaid by playing the harp, but after her husband escaped, the mermaid swallowed her.
The husband, wanting to save his wife, went to a wizard who told him that the only way to free her was to find an egg that contained her life force. He obtained it and freed his wife, destroying the egg and killing the mermaid.
- Finally, in ancient Scotland, they were believed to be goddesses of the sea, so human sacrifices were offered to appease them.
Legends about Scottish Mythology
1. Hunab Ku as the God of Christians
The oldest publicly known written reference to the term “Hunab Ku” (which translates as “one God” or “the only God”) appears in the 16th-century Motul Dictionary, where “Hunab-ku” is identified as “the one true god, also the greatest of the gods of the people of Yucatán. He had no form because they said he could not be represented because he was incorporeal.”
The term also appears in the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel, written after the Spanish conquest, but is unknown in pre-conquest inscriptions in Mayan writing. Hunab Ku was closely associated with an indigenous creator god, in an effort to make use of religious syncretism.
A version claiming that Hunab Ku was the supreme god of the Mayan civilizations can be found in Sylvanus Morley’s book, The Ancient Mayans, published in 1946. It is necessary to refer to Mayan authors to verify its origin and use. However, the interpretation of Hunab Ku as a pre-Hispanic deity is not widely accepted by Mayan scholars today.
The academic, anthropologist, and linguist William Hanks expressed in an example that likening the term hunab ku to an expression introduced in the ancient Mayan passage is stated as Yucatec and was founded on the argument of Christian missions. He writes: “The use of hunab ku [‘one’ plus suffix plus ‘god’] for the singularity of God is linguistically transparent to the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
This appears extensively in missionary writings. He also points out, “the fact that close paraphrases refer to God, halal ku and hunab ku allows us to identify hunab ku with the Christian God with certainty, even when the surrounding text may be ambiguous.”
2. Hunab Ku in New Age Belief
New Age beliefs that speak of Hunab Ku come from the mission of philosopher Domingo Martínez Paredez in the years 1904 to 1984, who first presented his definition of perception in 1953 and expanded his ideas in later books, including Hunab Kú: Manuales del Movimiento de la filosofía maya (Hunab Ku: Manuals of the Mayan Philosophy Movement) in 1964.
Martínez interpreted Hunab Ku as evidence of Mayan monotheism and suggested that it was represented by the symbols of a square within a circle or a circle within a square, the square representing measurement and the circle representing movement. Martínez linked Hunab Ku to concepts and symbols in Freemasonry.
Particularly the idea of a Great Architect of the Universe and the Masonic square and compass. It was also Martínez who first associated Hunab Ku with the expression “En Lak’ech, “ which he translated as “You are my other self.” (In English, this means “You are my other self.”) Martínez’s ideas were popularized by Hunbatz Men and José Argüelles. The significance of the symbol has also been discussed by José Castillo Torre.
3. Hunab Ku as a symbol
After Hunbatz Men’s idea was introduced, instead of Martínez’s symbol, Argüelles claimed that the “Hunab Ku” symbol was originally a rectangular design used by the Aztecs for a ritual cloak, known as the cloak of lip plugs (or, possibly, the cloak of “spider water”). The design survives today as a rug design sold in central Mexico.
But it was associated with the Milky Way and the god Hunab Ku by Argüelles, who modified the symbol to look more like a circular motif evoking a yin-yang symbol, as well as a spiral galaxy or the blood that Hunab Ku spilled on the bones that Quetzalcóatl took from Ah Puch to create humanity. It has been associated with Mayanism.
The first known appearance of the design is found in the 16th-century Codex Magliabechiano, an Aztec (not Mayan) document that is also known for its graphic depictions of heart sacrifices drawn by indigenous artists. The design was first reproduced by Zelia Nuttall, who rediscovered the Codex Magliabecchiano in Florence, Italy, in 1898, in her 1901 book
The fundamental principles of the civilizations of the old and new worlds: a comparative investigation based on a study of ancient Mexican religious, sociological, and sociologists. Calendar systems. Facsimiles of the codex were published in 1903 and 1982.In 1976, the design was presented to the weavers of Teotitlan, Oaxaca by epigraphist Gordon Whittaker, who commissioned a rug based on the design in the Codex Magliabbechiano.
By 1978, it had been reproduced several times. Argüelles says he bought two rugs from Teotitlan with the design, which he later modified and popularized in his book The Mayan Factor (1987) and during the 1987 Harmonic Convergence. The design, rendered in black and white, appeared on the cover and decorative pages of The House of the Dawn (1914), a romantic novel by Marah Ellis Ryan set in Hopi territory during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
Decorative borders on the pages of the book combine this design with the swastika, a motif that also appears frequently in other books by Ryan. It is likely that the illustrator of Ryan’s book found the Aztec design in Nuttall’s 1903 publication. John Major Jenkins, who first saw the symbol used by Argüelles, came across Ryan’s novel in a used bookstore.
He appropriated the decorative borders for use in his zine Jaloj Kexoj and PHI-64: The Dual Principle Paradigm of Mayan Time Philosophy and Its Conceptual Parallel in Old World Thought (1994) and also a published version with modifications as Aztec Sacred Science (1994).
Despite the claims of Martinez, Argüelles, and Jenkins, there are no known representations of “Hunab Ku” that have been documented by the ancient Maya. It is an Aztec motif, not a Maya one.
